196 



Poppy Bee.- 



-INSECTS.- 



-Leaf-cutter Bee. 



ia Kent, I found snail shells so tenanted in 1843, and 

 snail shells also tenanted hy a beautil'ul spider of the 

 genus Attiis, or Salticus, as it was named by Latreille. 

 A wood-boring bee constructs her tunnel, not by exca- 

 vating downwards, as she would be incommoded with 

 the dust and rubbish which she removes ; no, she worlis 

 upwards, and so avoids such an inconvenience. When 

 slie has advanced to the length required, she proceeds 

 in a horizontal direction to the outside of the post, and 

 now her operations are continued downwards. She 

 constructs a cell near the bottom of the tube, a second 

 and a third, and so on to the required number. The 

 larv;e, wheu full fed, have their heads turued upwards. 

 The bees which arrive at their perfect condition, or 

 rather those which are first anxious to escape into day, 

 are two or three in the upper cells. These are males. 

 Tlie females are usually ten or twelve days later. 



OSMIA PARIETINA is a species of Osmia only found 

 in the northern parts of this country. It selects the 

 ujider side of a slate or stone on the ground, with a 

 hollow space beneath it. The bee attaches the little 

 balls of pollen to the stone. Mr. Robertson sent a 

 stone of this kind from Glenalmond in Perthshire, 

 which contained beneath it a mass of cocoons. This 

 stone was ten inches by sis, and there were two hundred 

 and thirty cocoons attached to it. In November, when 

 found, about one-third of them were empty. In March 

 a few males made their appearance, and shortly after a 

 few females ; others came out at the end of June. At 

 this time there were thirty-five uudeveloped cocoons 

 containing larva. The following April they were still 

 in the larva state. B\' the end of May they had changed 

 to pupne, and about the end of June began to come 

 forth perfect insects ; so that a portion of eggs depo- 

 sited in 1849 had been three years in arriving at matu- 

 rity. May this not be a provision for the preservation 

 of a species livi]ig in a most uncertain climate? A 

 species of Chrysis, or Golden wasp, is parasitic in the 

 nests of this bee. 



POPPY BEE.— The Kev. William Kirby (for doubt- 

 less the rector of Barham wrote that chapter in Kirby 

 & Spence's "Introduction"^ has thus alluded to the 

 habits of another bee, now placed in a genus by itself, 

 named Anthocopa, or the " flower-cutter." It has not 

 yet been discovered in this country. 



Kirby classes these bees among " the hangers of 

 tapestry, or upholsterers — those which line the holes 

 excavated in the earth for the reception of their young 

 with an elegant coating of flowers or of leaves. Amongst 

 the most interesting of these is Mcgachile jyapaveris, 

 a species whose manners have been admirably described 

 by Reaumur. This little bee, as though fascinated 

 with the colour most attractive to our eyes, invariably 

 chooses for the hangings of her apartments the most 

 brilliant scarlet, selecting for its material tlie petals of 

 the wild poppy, which she dexterously cuts into the 

 proper form. Her first process is to excavate in some 

 pathway a burrow, cylindrical at the entrance, but 

 swelled out below to the depth of about three inches. 

 Having polished the walls of this little apartment, she 

 next flies to a neighbouring field, cuts out oval por- 

 tions of the flowers of poppies, seizes them between her 

 legs, and returns with them to her cell ; and though 



separated from the wrinkled petal of a half-expanded 

 flower, she knows how to straighten their folds, and, if 

 too large, to fit them for her purpose by cutting off the 

 superfluous parts. Beginning at the bottom, she over- 

 lays the waUs of her mansion with this brilliant tapestry, 

 extending it also on the surface of the ground round 

 the margin of the orifice. The bottom is rendered 

 warm by three or four coats, and the sides have never 

 less than two. The little upholsterer, having completed 

 the hangings of her apartment, next fills it with pollen 

 and honey to the height of about half an inch ; then, 

 after committing an egg to it, she wraps over the pojijiy 

 lining, so that even the roof may be of this material, 

 and lastly closes its mouth with a small hillock of earth. 

 The great depth of the cell, compared with the space 

 which the single egg and the accompanying food depo- 

 sited in it occupy, deserves particular notice. This is 

 not more than half an inch at the bottom, the remaining 

 two inches and a half being subsequently filled with 

 earth. When you next favour nie," he adds, " with a 

 visit, I can show you the cells of tliis interesting insect, 

 as yet unknown to British entomologists, for which I 

 am indebted to the kindness of M. Latreille, who first 

 scientifically described the species." 



Genus Megachile [Leaf-cutter Bee). — In this genus 

 the head is generally large, and the mandibles very stout. 

 These bees are commonly called Leaf-cutters, from 

 their habit of cutting off pieces of the leaves of various 

 trees, with wdiich they form cells in which they store 

 up food ibr their larvffi ; they prefer the leaves of the 

 rose and laburnum. Some of the species, such as 

 Megachile Willufjlibiella and M. lirjniseca, select de- 

 caying trees, posts, and rails, in which they form their 

 tunnels. Megachile maritima buiTOWs in the ground. 

 Some species, such as M. circinncincta, form large 

 colonies. The various species of Ccclioxys are para- 

 sites on Megachile. The Megachile argentata is a very 

 active little insect ; it makes a piping sound, which is 

 extremely shrill and acute. It frequents the flowers of 

 the Echimn vulgare, or Viper's bugloss, which when 

 seen is such a handsome ornament, growing among the 

 trap debris of Salisbury Crags, near Edinburgh. In 

 one of the divisions of this genus the fore tarsi of the 

 males is dilated. To this section belongs the bee men- 

 tioned by John Ray in his Letters as '"the AVillow 

 Bee," and named by Kirby Willy ghhiella, after Ray's 

 friend, the naturalist "Willughli^'. This name is a very 

 a]ipropriate one for this bee, as it burrows in the old 

 stumps of willow trees. 



THE LEAP-CUTTER BEE {Megachile centwneulcn-is) 

 is a well known British species, which is peculiarly fond 

 of the leaves of rose bushes. These may often be 

 seen with circidar pieces cut out of them, and one who- 

 has watched the insect at work, thus describes its mode 

 of operation. The bee places itself on the edge of the 

 leaf, so that it passes between its legs, and with its 

 great and shaip mandibles it cuts out a piece quickly, 

 poising itself on its wings when it lias nearly finished 

 its work, so that it may not tear the piece, and to keep 

 it and the cutter from falling to the ground. When it 

 has quite detached the piece, it holds it firmly between 

 its legs, and carries it to its nest, where it uses it with 

 similarly formed pieces to build its cell. It takes many 



